Stephens Celebrates Top 20 Berth with Ellen This Week

Fresh off of her semifinal run in Melbourne, Sloane Stephens, now in the top 20, is scheduled to appear on the Ellen show this week.

By Erik Gudris

(January 28, 2013) -- How does one celebrate their best ever performance at a Major and breaking into the top 20 for the first time? By appearing on national television of course.

19-year-old Sloane Stephens is scheduled to appear on the Ellen Degeneres show this Tuesday as her profile continues to increase in the U.S. after her run to the semifinals of the Australian Open last week. Stephens earned multiple headlines, for not only beating fellow American Serena Williams in the quarterfinals, but by also being part of the drama that unfolded when eventual champion Victoria Azarenka took a controversial medical time out during their semifinal match.

Thanks to her efforts down under, Stephens is now at a career high No. 17 this week. That makes her the second highest ranked American woman after Serena Williams who moved up a spot to No. 2 behind Azarenka who remains at the top spot in the WTA.

Stephens could climb even higher in the next few months as she has few points to defend between now and Miami where she reached the round of 32 last year, losing to Maria Sharapova. The young American is scheduled to compete in Doha and then Dubai next month, two WTA premier events that she did not even appear at last year. After that, Stephens is expected to play at the BNP Paribas Open where she should be seeded.